I put four coats or so, I understand that they were painted originally, probably better paint with lead and asbestos with uranium hardener and that’s why it lasted this long. I figured I’ll do that and see how long it will last. If it will last 2 years with 4 coats, I’ll do 12 coats next time for that 6 years
I seem to think you are correct in that they painted them originally. I recall the older cars would have a black/gray color around the finger bumps on the steering wheel when they aged a bit.